Gueant said 24-year old Mohammad Merah was a member of an ideological Islamic group in France, but stressed the organization was “not involved in plotting any violence.”

He reportedly received a tip from a scooter repair shop in Toulouse, where the gunman asked to change the color of the Yamaha scooter used to flee the shootings and to remove a GPS tracker device.

The minister said Merah had contacted the first soldier he attacked on the pretext of wanting to buy his motorcycle, and admitted the shooter was on a watchlist.

Investigators identified the IP address he used – that of his mother – because he was already under surveillance for radical Islamist beliefs.

"We knew, and that is why he was under surveillance, that he had travelled to Afghanistan and Pakistan," the minister said.

He added that while Merah had a criminal record, nothing suggested he was planning violence.

Merah's telephone was tapped from Monday, which led police to hastily mount a pre-dawn raid on his house Wednesday when they realized more attacks were imminent.

Two police officers were injured in a firefight that erupted during the raid, which took place just before 3 a.m. local time, and led to a now 15-hour standoff. It was originally reported three police officers had been wounded.

Police also conducted a controlled explosion of the suspect's car at around 9:00 a.m. after discovering it was loaded with weapons.

Monday's Otzar Hatorah shooting – the third deadly shooting carried out by Merah since March 11 – resulted in the deaths of Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, 30, his sons Arieh, 5, and Gabriel, 3, and 8-year-old Myriam Monsenego, daughter of the school's principal.